When Florida Senator Mel Martinez announced he was stepping down from his post last August, current Governor Charlie Crist fairly quickly announced he would not seek reelection to that office and instead run for Martinez’s seat. Crist is a long-time political figure in Florida and has generally been viewed favorably by Floridians (the recession has hurt his approval numbers more recently). He was considered a lock to win the seat at the time. Along comes Marco Rubio riding a backlash of conservatism after Barack Obama is elected, and just a few months ago Governor Crist had to switch from Republican to Independent because it was clear Rubio would win the GOP primary.

So now you have the back story in case you were unfamiliar with the situation. Enter: this article. A great read from Adam Smith that really raises some interesting points. Most poignant, has Charlie Crist, in effect, benefited from the Gulf oil spill? And is Marco Rubio starting to lose momentum because he doesn’t have a primary opponent or is it because Floridians are beginning to learn more about him and his questionable history? Read the rest of this entry »

I just got back from another trip home to the sunshine state where I spent some good time with family and friends. One of the more interesting things I noticed while I was down there was the political advertisements for two candidates in particular. Jeff Greene, who is running for the same U.S. Senate seat as Charlie Crist, Marco Rubio, and Kendrick Meek, and Rick Scott, who is running for governor. The fact that these two retards are running for public office is the reason behind the title of this post.

Jeff Greene…let’s start with him. Perhaps not surprisingly, he is running on a platform of being a political outsider while touting his business credentials and past success. Upon closer look, one may discover that Jeff Greene amassed his fortune trading credit default swaps in real estate. If that sounds familiar, it’s because that is exactly the same thing that gets blamed for causing the whole financial market meltdown not too long ago. Millions of Floridians have had their homes foreclosed or are facing foreclosure as a result of the irresponsible lending and mortgage industries, but not Jeff Greene. He made a fortune off of it, and now he wants Floridians to elect him as a United States Senator. Perhaps it is a sincere effort to repay Floridians and Americans through public service…but if you’re willing and able to believe that then please send me an e-mail because I have a business plan I would like to discuss with you.

Rick Scott. A member of the GOP, running for governor against likely GOP nominee and current front-runner Bill McCollum. McCollum is the Attorney General of FL, a career politician I suppose–a fact which Rick Scott is quick to point out. Rick Scott? He founded and was the head of a company which owned hospitals which were found to have committed Medicare fraud. His company was ordered to pay the largest ever fine for this offense. It happened on his watch, he was CEO. What does he cite in his campaign commercials for why he should be governor of Florida? His “successful” business experience and his accountability, among others. One of his commercials mentions the history of his company (kind of hard to ignore it) and concludes with him saying the important part is that he was not charged with anything or fined personally, and oh yeah its important to learn from it and move on, like he has. So he is accountable…now.

Ridiculous. Somebody should inform these people, and whoever told them they should run, that simply NOT being a politician is not adequate qualifications public office. This anti-establishment fervor, for lack of a better term, is mucking up candidates who wouldn’t necessarily be a good public servant, rather just anybody rich enough to finance their ambition.

In my opinion, politicians and public servants should be individuals who the public can look to as a good example, people who value service to their state, community, and country. Instead, it seems like more and more these days we look to politicians for examples NOT to follow. People like Rick Scott and Jeff Greene.